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During his Friday press conference, Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy ruled out both Desmond Bishop and Ryan Pickett for Sunday’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs but said that James Starks, Brandon Saine and Josh Sitton all have a chance to play.

Bishop and Pickett have both been held out of practice this week. Bishop will miss his third straight game after injuring his calf against the Lions in Week 13. Pickett suffered his second concussion of the season against the Raiders last Sunday and won’t make the trip to Kansas City.

Rookie D.J. Smith will make his third straight start for Bishop, and C.J. Wilson is listed behind Pickett on the Packers depth chart. Jarius Wynn and Mike Neal should also see more snaps in Pickett’s absence.

Both Starks (injury) and Saine (concussion) have missed this week’s practices, but McCarthy said they’ll be game-time decisions. If they checkout on the field in Kansas City before kickoff, each will have a chance to play. The Packers are hopeful that one of the two will be able to play, as Ryan Grant and John Kuhn are the only other healthy ball carriers on the roster. No roster move was made to fortify the position this week.  Read more... (445 words + 1 image, estimated 1:47 mins reading time)

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The Green Bay Packers have placed tight end Andrew Quarless on IR with a knee injury and promoted quarterback Graham Harrell to take his place on the active roster.

Quarless was hurt in the second half of the Packers’ 38-35 win over the New York Giants on Sunday. It was a horrific looking injury as Quarless’s knee buckled while attempting to cover a kickoff. Coach Mike McCarthy said that Quarless will have surgery on the knee in the coming days or weeks.

Harrell has been primarily on the Packers’ practice squad during his two years in Green Bay. After spending the first 13 games there last season, Harrell was signed to the active roster for the final three games after Aaron Rodgers suffered a concussion against the Detroit Lions.

Harrell earned another chance on the practice squad with a preseason that saw him complete 33 of 57 passes for 287 yards and two touchdowns.  While learning under Rodgers, Matt Flynn and quarterbacks coach Tom Clements, Harrell has shown vast improvements since the Packers signed him in May of 2010.  Read more... (434 words + 1 image, estimated 1:44 mins reading time)

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Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy confirmed on Monday that tight end Andrew Quarless would be lost for the rest of the season due to a “significant” knee injury. Quarless was hurt on a kickoff in the second half on a horrific looking sequence that saw the second-year tight end’s knee buckle underneath him. He’ll have surgery in the upcoming weeks.

The injury is a tough break for Quarless, who was coming into his own as the Packers primary run blocking tight end this season. Quarless was also becoming a core cog in the Packers special teams coverage. To replace him, the Packers will likely lean more on Tom Crabtree in blocking sets and also rookies D.J. Williams and Ryan Taylor.

There was a silver lining Monday, as McCarthy said that the medical staff felt good about Charles Woodson’s status for this week after suffering a concussion in the second half Sunday. Woodson banged helmets with Ahmad Bradshaw in the flats and didn’t return. An independent neurologist will still have to evaluate and clear Woodson for practice and game participation, but that’s an encouraging sign for the Packers’ upcoming game with the Oakland Raiders this Sunday.  Read more... (511 words + 1 image, estimated 2:03 mins reading time)

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The Green Bay Packers ran their unbeaten streak to 12 games this season and 18 overall as quarterback Aaron Rodgers led the Packers on a game-winning drive during the final minute to help Green Bay secure a 38-35 win over the New York Giants Sunday from MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Here are five observations from the game:

1. Cross it off

What hasn’t Aaron Rodgers done in 2011? He can officially cross a game-winning drive off the list. After Eli Manning’s short touchdown pass to Hakeem Nicks (and ensuing two-point conversion) tied the game at 35, Rodgers took over at his own 20-yard-line with 58 seconds left and one timeouts. Rodgers hasn’t been in that situation yet this season, but he was calm and razor sharp as he completed all four of his passes—including three of 18 yards or more—to set the Packers up for a 30-yard field goal try. Mason Crosby banged home the kick as the fourth quarter clock expired to push the Packers to 12-0.

In a season full of important drives, Rodgers’ last minute masterpiece was far-and-away the most impressive and important. If they hadn’t already, the engravers for the NFL MVP trophy can begin putting in Rodgers’ name with confidence.  Read more... (1356 words + 1 image, estimated 5:25 mins reading time)

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Families across Wisconsin sat down to watch Aaron Rodgers, Clay Matthews and Greg Jennings try to lead the Packers past the Lions on Thanksgiving.

They got what they wanted, and a little bit more.

Little-known backups Evan Dietrich-Smith, D.J. Smith and Robert Francois all came up big for Green Bay. After Francois picked off Matthew Stafford, my family jumped for joy, then said in unison: “Who’s that guy?”

The Packers Next Man Up mantra was on display once again on Thursday and the result was 11-0.

Onto the stock report:

Rising

Aaron Rodgers
If not for dropped passes from Andrew Quarless and Randall Cobb, Rodgers would’ve had four TDs. Nothing wrong with two TDs on 22 of 33 for 307 yards and no interceptions, though.

Tramon Williams
Tramon Williams 1, Megatron 0.

Ted Thompson
I’ve listed Mike McCarthy in the stock report before, so it’s only fair to include Thompson. The GM’s knack for finding reserves that fit the Packers system was displayed again on Thursday. D.J. Smith, Robert Francois and Evan Dietrich-Smith all entered the game after injuries to the starters and made an impact.

Steady  Read more... (410 words + 1 image, estimated 1:38 mins reading time)

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In anticipation of the Packers’ Week 9 matchup with the San Diego Chargers, I sat down with some tape of the Chargers in 2011 to decide how the Packers might go about attacking their defense. This is what I found:

Manipulating the safety in the red zone

Here we see Tom Brady and the Patriots offense in a 1st-and-10 look from the Chargers 14-yard-line. It’s a two-tight end, one-back set, with Rob Gronkowski to the top of screen and Wes Welker in the slot to the left of the formation. Aaron Hernandez lines up in the right slot with Deion Branch out wide. The Chargers combat this look with three down lineman, four linebackers and four defensive backs—their standard 3-4 personnel. They show man coverage and keep Eric Weddle as the single safety high. Bob Sanders, the other safety, lines up in the face of Hernandez. Brady motions Gronkowski back into the line to help in protection, but the motion also confirms to Brady the man coverage look as Donald Butler follows. At this point, Brady knows exactly where he wants to go with the football in his pre-snap read.

 Read more... (1433 words + 10 images, estimated 5:44 mins reading time)

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The Green Bay Packers were without left tackle Marshall Newhouse and defensive lineman Ryan Pickett Friday as the team prepared for their trip to the Metrodome to take on the Minnesota Vikings.

Newhouse, who took over at left tackle when Chad Clifton went down with a hamstring injury, was attending to personal matters outside of Green Bay but is expected to play Sunday. Rookie Derek Sherrod took his snaps at left tackle. After practice, Packers coach Mike McCarthy said that “Marshall is ready to play” and that they anticipate him back with the team on Saturday.

McCarthy has preached all week that Newhouse was about to face his toughest challenge in Vikings defensive end Jared Allen, who has 9.5 sacks against the Packers over the last two seasons. He’ll now head into Sunday’s game without the final day of preparation from a practice standpoint. It will be interesting to see where Newhouse’s concentration level is at on Sunday, especially considering his personal matter was serious enough to fly out of Green Bay and miss Friday practice.

The defensive line might be missing a key cog in stopping Vikings running back Adrian Peterson.  Read more... (432 words + 1 image, estimated 1:44 mins reading time)

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